Saturday, April 1, 2017

"HAND" WRITING

Believe it or not, 20 years ago we did NOT teach children to write in kindergarten. It was thought to be developmentally inappropriate and lined paper was strictly forbidden. Now, we are even expecting four year olds to write. Their hands haven’t changed, but our expectations have. The trick here is to keep it CHALLENGING, yet PLAYFUL. We want to provide young children with an opportunity learn, but we need to be respectful of their individual differences and abilities.My webmaster Alex May has taken songs my daughter Holly wrote about ten years ago and turned them into Youtube videos where your students can watch how letters are formed and then join along and form them in the air. Alex broke the song down into videos with four letters at a time so your students don’t get overwhelmed. We know that learning goes from large to small and simple to complex. If children practice making invisible letters in the air using big movements, it will be easier for them to transfer those strokes to paper.

Check out my website today (drjean.org) to learn tips on how to use these videos in your classroom, as well as other suggestions to get those little hands ready to write.

I love this idea that Denise Brackenridget Brownlee shared. After doing invisible writing in the air she lets her students use an unsharpened pencil in a sand tray.